Rethymno

Wine Tasting & Winery Tours

Take your taste buds on a journey on this guided walking tour of Rethymno's Old Town. Eat like a local as you step into a local café for breakfast. Learn how to taste honey, olive oil and raki like a Cretan. Uncover the secrets to making paper-thin phyllo. Have a feast under a lemon tree.  Start you tour at a Greek style kafeneio café in the heart of the city. Sit down in a square next to a running fountain and orange trees. Indulge in an authentic Cretan breakfast of a traditional Greek coffee or fresh juice and a handmade sfakianopita cheese pie coated with a layer of handmade jam. During breakfast, discuss the historical sites on your tour, the local traditions and customs, and how all these are connected to Cretan gastronomy. Learn how to distinguishing between high and low quality honey, olive oil, and raki with a tasting experience. Make your way to a 17th-century Venetian mansion house of Yorgos Hatziparaschos who has been making phyllo dough by hand for over 63 years. Be memorized by how the simple ingredients of flour, water, and salt are masterfully worked into the thin dough used in Greek desserts like baklava. Continue to a restaurant hidden in an Ottoman-style inner garden. Feast on Cretan meal under the lemon trees. Savor traditional dishes, cooked with fresh local ingredients and served in a stylish, modern way. Reflect on how the past connects with modern Cretan life with your host. End your tour at your meeting point.

Learn about traditional Cretan olive oil and wine on this tasting tour through the island of Crete. Begin your tour at the Kanakis olive oil mill, and learn all about the process of making olive oil. Hear experts describe the steps of production and afterward, enjoy a taste of their exquisite virgin olive oil. Continue on to one of the best wineries of the region, Dourakis Winery. There, enjoy a half-hour guided tour to learn about the history, tradition, and production of Cretan wine. After the tour, move to the wine tasting room, where you can taste up to five types of Cretan wine. Finally, end the tour with a visit to either the village of Nipos or Vryses (depending on the weather and the day). Both villages offer up beautiful natural views alongside a traditional delicious lunch.

Hop in a 4x4 vehicle for a full-day safari adventure and learn about Cretan traditions while indulging in delicious food. Tour the paradisical countryside and swim in the clear water of the South Cretan Sea. Climb to an altitude of 1,200 meters and experience the quietness of the White Mountains and Cretan dances in a fascinating landscape. Keep an eye out for vultures that will take your breath away with their imposing appearance. Visit an old village with a Byzantine Church and a café stocked with Cretan products, including herbs, raki, and honey. See a castle and swim in the pristine waters of the South Cretan Sea before heading to a tavern to try traditional dishes. Visit a family-owned winery and learn how wine is produced on the island. Discover the secrets of Creten olive oil at an old factory and learn how to identify various grades of olive oil. Step into the island's past with visits to historical museums.

Create lasting memories in Crete as you enjoy an olive oil tasting experience under the shade of olive trees. This entire experience will be enjoyed in the middle of a 2,000-year-old monumental olive grove. Discover the history, culture, and Cretan civilization of olive oil throughout the centuries. During your walk around the peaceful olive groves such as the holy Gethsemane Garden, you will discover the beauty of the Cretan landscape as well as the myths, flavors, and aromas of olive oil. The activity includes an olive oil tasting of 4 different olive oils at a tasting table in the shade of some olive trees. During the tasting you will be pairing food with more types of olive oil, and you will receive tips on how taste, preserve, choose, cook, and fry olive oil. You'll also receive more information about harvesting and olive oil extraction.

Explore Rethymno like a local, hearing stories, visiting classic sights, and tasting traditional Cretan food and drinks on a private guided tour. Start your tour with a freshly-brewed Greek coffee in a local kafeneion, or Greek café, mingling with locals and learning how conquerors from East and West influenced Crete's culinary diet. If you're feeling curious, find out what your future holds by reading your Greek coffee cup — a centuries-old tradition. Then, stroll through Rethymno's windy streets through Sabbionara to the cobblestone labyrinth of the old Ottoman district. You'll pass by impressive mansions with unique door frames and external decorations, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled. Learn about how the Venetians also conquered the city, and as you walk along you'll discover the different layers of the city's rich history. See mosques, Catholic churches, and temples dotted around the city's streets, and on your way, visit local craftspeople as they work in their workshops. Next, get familiar with the secrets of the famous Cretan diet by sampling local nibbles, including the traditional sesame break ring called koulouri, local fresh cheese, olives, and Cretan olive oil — which is considered as one of the best in the world. Continue your tour through hidden back alleys of the old city, snapping photos of the picturesque districts and authentic life. Visit a secret garden neatly tucked in the center of the Old Town, your final stop, where you'll take part in a unique wine tasting of local, award-winning wines. You'll discover that vine cultivation and wine production in Crete dates as far back as 1,600 B.C.

Enjoy a fun introduction to Cretan culture on this evening tour. Visit a local winery for a wine tasting session. Continue to a traditional village to enjoy live Cretan music and dance. Sip Greek wine and feast on typical island dishes for dinner. Depart from Rethymno at 6:30 PM with a convenient pickup service near the hotel. Settle in on your comfortable ride and be driven for 30 minutes to a family-run winery near Rethymnon. Learn the process of wine production from expert winemakers. Then, taste 3 different kinds of wine. Pair white, rosé, and red wine with local cheese. Let the entertainment begin with an evening of Cretan folklore performances. Reach your dinner venue at 8:30 PM and unwind for a traditional Greek night in a charming taverna. Enjoy a Cretan dance show along with a traditional Cretan music group till 11 PM. After relaxing to dances and songs of Crete over dinner, hop back on your ride to return to Rethymno.

Sample native varieties of Cretan wine at the Cretan House of Wine. Discover delicious flavor and delicate aromas within every glass. Get to know different grape varieties by tasting various vintages. Learn about the characteristics of the region and the personal touches of the winemakers. First, experience the uniqueness of Cretan wines with a tasting of 11 different wines (each of 75ml per glass): White Wines: Vilana, Vidiano, Thrapsathiri, Plito, Dafni, Moschato Spinas, Malavazia Di Candia Aromatica Red Wines: Liatiko, Kotsifali, Mantilari Sweet Wine: Naturally sweet wine of biological agriculture from Liatiko Then, savor a pairing of traditional food with wine, including dishes such as: Apaki: Pieces of smoked pork Dakos: Rusk with tomato and white cheese Tigania: Pork with Cretan herbs fried to olive oil Dolmadakia: Vine leaves stuffed with rice Kalitsounakia: Traditional herb pie Graviera: Aged yellow cheese At the end, play a blind wine tasting game with a bottle of wine as a reward to the winner of the competition.

On this private wine tasting tour, dive into the world of Crete’s indigenous grapes, explore some of the region’s most beautiful scenery and vineyards, lightly trek to ancient wine presses and hidden Byzantine churches, and taste some of the best wines that Crete has to offer. Get picked up from your accommodation before visiting two authentic Cretan wineries, their vineyards, and their cellars while learning their stories. Afterward, indulge in a full wine and Cretan lunch pairing, one of the healthiest cuisines of the Mediterranean. Enjoy a total of 11 wines and a traditional 5-course Cretan meal, designed especially to match the wines served.

With a local by your side, wander around the old town of Rethymnon and discover the unique culinary treasures of the region. During this four-hour Cretan private walking tour, you’ll be introduced to the best flavors, tastes, and wines that Rethymnon has to offer. Start by meandering along alleys and back streets of Rethymnon’s oldest neighborhoods, while listening to “spicy” local stories and food traditions. Before kicking off your culinary delights, stop at a local kafenion for freshly brewed Greek coffee. Learn about coffee tradition in Greece as you see it brewed the traditional way on sand. Continue through the labyrinth streets of the old town. Visit a 100-year-old bakery where you’ll sample yummy Kalitsounia, filled with cheese and spinach, fennel, or wild local greens. Stop at one of Rethymnon’s most unique cellars where you’ll participate in an exceptional wine and food tasting session presented by a qualified sommelier. Learn all about Cretan viticulture and local wines while sampling red, white, rosé, and dessert wines, all accompanied by delicious food plates. Sweeten your palate by visiting a local sweets shop famous for its fresh sweet delights that are produced from local, organic ingredients. Have you ever tasted baklava with ice cream on top, made from a local-farm sheep’s milk? Quench your thirst by heading to a local art venue instead of a tavern. Sample some locally brewed beer paired with a local meze and chat with the artist finding out how Cretan land and soul never fail to inspire artistic hearts. Finally, visit a hidden spot for a glass of an exclusively-for-you signature cocktail, based on liquid royalty, raki, the grape-based spirit of Crete. Before you go, your guide will be more than happy to make recommendations for what else you can do on the island.